TESTIMONIALS
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"This is going to be a major, major international event. The curation of it...I was so impressed with that panel on colonialism because I saw three people with totally different stories, who were able to challenge each other and grow each other's thoughts."
Sean Penn
Actor, Director
"It is easy to be cynical about virtues, values, beauty, truth, justice... until they are absent. There were many moments in ZEG when these privations of good were brought into sharp focus. The most important stitches that ZEG makes into my system are those that confirm that humans are capable of remarkable depth. I know that lies and cynicism are darkly contagious, but ZEG is a vivid illustration of how truth, justice and virtues also have a contagious power."
Matthew Pye
Educator
"ZEG changes my sense of geography, by default West European, and I always return geographically and mentally expanded. Above all, I love the mind-opening nature of the casual encounters that become serious conversations at ZEG: I ended up speaking at length to a survivor of the Uighur prisoner camps; to anIsraeli army defector who lives in Tbilisi; to the first woman charged in Russia under the foreign agent law; to a personal intellectual hero, Volodymyr Yermolenko; to a Canadian gold prospector working in SaudiArabia; and so many more. What underpins it all is a search for voice, allied to a search for our common humanity."
Patrick Walsh
Literary Agent
"The wonderful ZEG Storytelling Festival in Tbilisi has already become the highlight of my summer. At ZEG, I remembered the reason I fell in love with journalism: it helps me get out of my head and grow in the company of interesting people. I was also reminded of what burnout and my subsequent hiatus from journalism taught me: to engage deeply with the world, learn to switch off. I love people and stories, I find new ways of seeing through conversation..."
Nishita Jha
Journalist, Illustrator
"ZEG allowed me to think more cohesively about the stories I work on, to reach out into other areas of expertise and to hear the lived experience of storytellers, displaced journalists and those fighting for media freedom. In short, to connect. In practical terms, it gave introductions which realized other connections hundreds of miles away on the frontlines inUkraine. And I believe it will lead me to other places and connections further afield. And it allowed me to unlock some of my own stories, and experience an audience reaction in a way I don’t normally get – direct, immediate and personal. Lastly, it allowed me to meet wonderful, smart, inspiring people. And to have the rarest of things, the time to get to know those people too, and the time to think and plunge into and aboard the flood of creativity around me."
Quentin Sommerville
BBC Middle East Correspondent
"Not only inspiring but an important festival to have at this time in the region.Thanks for your support. Until next year!"
Inga Thordar
Media Executive
"Just returned from ZEG Fest inTbilisi, Georgia.Writers, commentators, campaigners, journalists, all asking: how do we portray the truth of what is happening now? Incredibly inspiring seeing the spirit of Georgians against looming threats to freedom of speech."
Armando Iannucci
Satirist
"Such a joy, a hoot, a privilege to be on stage with funny (& serious) men, Gary Shteyngart, Armando Iannucci and Andrew North, at one of the most beguiling of festivals, ZEG Fest."
Razia Iqbal
Journalist, Visiting Professor at Princeton University
"It’s unique amongst the festivals I’ve attended because the conversations are urgent and authentic and because there’s such an original range of voices and topics discussed. It’s not predictable and even if some of the topics are familiar the conversations are unique.There is also an intimacy to the event - being close together, sharing meals and working space during the day. I think the combination of returning speakers and attendees creates continuity while adding new unique voices. I have rekindled old friendships and made new ones which I will carry with me forever."
Claudia Milne
Senior Vice President, Standards and Practices for CBS
"I really appreciated the care and thoughtfulness with which the whole festival was organised - and the ambition and imagination which you brought to the notion of storytelling. It was really an event about scrutinising and looking beyond dominant narratives. Doing so with journalistic rigour but also an expansive sense of creative possibility. This seems a particularly valuable enterprise in our current world."
Ekow Eshun
Curator, Broadcaster
"This is the third ZEG I have attended and was, for me, the most urgent and important. ZEG plays a key role in defence of freedom. It creates a safe place for solidarity, for war reporters to share experiences on the changing technologies of drones, and to allow journalists from major broadcast and print media from all over the world to hear in detail what is happening in Georgia, whether through extraordinary films created by Georgia’s Gen Z, or through its photographers and historians.There is nothing like ZEG; it allows Tbilisi to plug into the architecture and intellectual framework of global media, and in return the world’s media witnesses a rapidly changing city, and freethinking under threat."
Coco Ferguson
Entrepreneur
"Such a pleasure to spend focused time on real issues with people who bring experience, ideas, and huge enthusiasm for interaction from all over the world. Some of the topics and discussions were pretty scary, indeed, but very clever and brave people are helping us understand what needs to be done."
Kemlin Furley
UNHCR Representative
"Not only was it an absolutely brilliant event, immaculately well organised, with an amazingly inclusive and relaxed vibe, it was also massively helpful to me from a professional perspective. I met some really useful people, from all over the world, who could prove very useful for future journalistic collaborations. The fact it was so global was a particular bonus for me as my documentary team produces material from all over the world. I found the festival line-up very refreshing because festivals can all become quite samey. I also found the topicality of a lot of the sessions a real bonus, as well as some of the sessions around journalism and film-making – they were well curated and brought refreshing perspectives. An AMAZING few days. It was absolutely amazing to be part of it."
Liz Gibbons
Executive Editor at BBC World Service
"I didn’t know what to expect whenI arrived in Tbilisi for the ZEG Storytelling Festival.What unfolded: three days of fabulous food, stimulating conversations -inside and outside of the confines of the festival - and powerful connections. It was a convergence of cultures, authentic experiences and new relationships.The conversations that were curated showcased brilliant authors, journalists, filmmakers, artists and activists. The common denominator was deep, thoughtful engagement and honest conversations. I loved the diversity of the topics, participants and presenters. Kindness and generosity pervaded the festival."
Sara M. Lomax
Co-founder and President of URL Media
"ZEG is one of the most inspirational and thought-provoking festivals I have been to.The calibre of speakers, range of opinion and experience and variety of topics make it stand out a mile. I always come back looking at the world in a different way and full of ideas, as both a speaker and a member of the audience. Being hosted inTbilisi not only provides a welcoming and convivial backdrop to everyone joining from across the globe, it also brings a fresher, different and more insightful perspective to events held in places like Western Europe or the US."
Rachel Corp
CEO, ITN
"Yup, I'm in Tbilisi, Georgia, bowled over by the hospitality and even more so by the bravery from the international journalists I've met, risking freedom and life to report on attacks on democracy. Inspiring."
Armando Iannucci
Satirist
“ZEG is, without doubt, one of the most interesting festivals I have been to in recent times. There is an urgency to each session, and a vibrancy to the conversations that made me feel fortunate to be in attendance.”
Aman Sethi
Journalist and Author of "A Free Man."
"ZEG blew my expectations out of the water. From the moment I arrived until the moment I left, I felt like family. The keynotes, the conversations, the panels, the emcees, and the venues were all world-class. I'll be back next year andI'm bringing some friends with me! The world needs to know about ZEG!"
Nick Laparra
Host of Let's Give aDamn Podcast
I deeply appreciated the potent mix of modesty with the tough mindedness/will to protect legitimate and effective media. The festival was intimate and often deeply moving. I think this is a signal that you placed things on the most important fault lines of humanities democratic crisis."
Matthew Pye
Founder, ClimateAcademy
"It was a wonderful time for me in ZEG festival. As a speaker it was a very great opportunity for me to talk about the exile journalists and also stories fromAfghanistan. At the same time I met many journalists from international agencies. As people say, communication is the key to success. At the ZEG festival I made lots of new connections."
Shafi Karimi
Journalist
"Unforgettable indeed! What a great festival. Already legendary."
Peter Pomeranzev
Author and journalist
"I loved meeting so many interesting people and helping them get started at the festival. It was great seeing their excitement and being part of a fun team that made the event run smoothly"
Irakli Chanturidze
ZEG 2024 Volunteer
"I enjoyed the opportunity to be part of such an important and interesting event."
Nia Papava
ZEG 2024 Volunteer
"It was a real celebration for me to attend each session. I hope that our constructive critisism will contribute to the future editions to be even bigger and bigger success."
Audience feedback
"More than anything, this access to the eclectic mix of experts from Los Angeles to Prague, from Israel to Germany distinguished ZEG from any other festival I’ve attended. ZEG provided an unparalleled exposure to a diversity of ideas in an intimate setting."
Audience feedback
"We went on walking tours, wrote fiction, watched documentaries and banqueted under the stars, often side-by-side with the speakers we had heard from earlier in the day."
Audience feedback
"During daytime panels we learned about everything from immigration and education to the power of perfume and the future of protest, but the experience wasn’t limited to an auditorium."
Audience feedback
"It started with Tbilisi, a city that feels like it’s letting you in on a secret. It’s both off the beaten path and a microcosm of the world, with the edge of Berlin, the sophistication of Paris, the potent mix of East and West one finds in St. Petersburg and the political upheaval of, well, everywhere. ZEG gave us a window into all of it."
Audience feedback
"I’ve been to many arts and media festivals, including more than ten years of New Yorker Festivals, but at ZEG I had an experience like no other. As a Coda Story reader since its launch, I knew to expect content that was nuanced, in-depth and sometimes challenging but I was not prepared for the adventure that was ZEG."
Audience feedback
"I've just had the privilege of spending three days with the team, audience, volunteers and speakers of the ZEG Storytelling Festival. An amazing collection of humans. What they pulled off would not be possible in London, Paris or New York. A reminder for me, as always, that content and timing are key."
Audience feedback